STM and Working Memory

Question 0

Define episodic memories, procedural memories, and semantic memories.

Answer 0

Episodic memories are long-term memories and experiences from the past.

Procedural memory has to do with muscle coordination and is a long-term memory.

Semantic memory is memories of facts such as address for a birthday or names of objects.

Question 1

What does the modal model place at the beginning of the process of memory?

Answer 1

Sensory and short-term memory

Question 3

How long is short-term memory

Answer 3

15-20 seconds

Question 4

What are the three types of memory proposed by Richard Shiffrin and Richard Atkinson? What are the time amounts for each?

Answer 4

1. Sensory memory is an initial stage that holds all incoming info for seconds.
2. Short-term memory holds 5 to 7 items for about 15 to 20 seconds.
3. Long-term memory can hold a large amount of information for years or even decades.

Question 5

What is an example of a control process in the STM, for Atkinson and Shifrin model? Define control processes.

Answer 5

An example of a control process that operates on short-term memory is rehearsal, repeating a stimulus over again in order to hold it in your mind.

Control processes are associated with structural features that can be controlled by the person and can differ from one task to another.

Control processes = strategies for memory. Example: memorizing phone number (Domino’s)

Question 6

What are the structural features of the Atkinson and Shifrin model?

Answer 6

Sensory memory = short-term memory = long-term memory.

Question 6

Think about the example in the book using Rachel and obtaining the number for pizza delivery. We call those steps using the model model.

Answer 6

When Rachel looks up the phone number to Domino’s Pizza on the Internet all the information enters her sensory memory.

Rachel uses the control process of selective attention to focus on the phone number so that the number enters her short-term memory.

She then uses her control process of rehearsal to keep it there.
She rehearses and memorizes it and the process she uses to memorize a number which involves the control process, transfers the number into long-term memory where it is stored.

The process of storing then the number in long-term memory is called encoding.

She uses retrieval to retrieve this information later.

Question 7

What are more examples of control processes? Relate it to memory and attention.

Answer 7

1) Strategies to memory- something such as relating digits in a phone number to a familiar day in history
2) strategies of attention that helps focus on important info

Question 8

Under “competing distractor conditions” during a flanker compatibility test, why would subjects be quicker to find their target in a high low task versus during a low task?

Answer 8

Participants have more cognitive resources left, therefore that space automatically processes the flanker or the distractor.

Question 9

Expert video game players show a decrease in performance in the high load condition, why is this?

Answer 9

Because expert video game players have Extra cognitive space due to their speed of finding a target in a visual stimulation, they are able to find a target so quickly they are able to still process the flanker distractor. This slows them down.

Question 10

What are the key brain areas that are active during the stroop test? What do they think this area’s function is?

Answer 10

Anterior cingulate cortex in the frontal lobe.

Arguments about what this does is conflict detection and goal maintenance.

Question 11

Concerning distractors in a flanker compatibility test during a high load task and low low task how much does a distractor slow you down?

Answer 11

During a high load test, you don’t pay attention to a distractor as much.

During a low task, a distractor slows you down because the extra attention processing capacity cannot be idle therefore you notice a target.

Question 13

What evidence did Sperling want for sensory memory?

What was the process of his experiment?

Answer 13

Sperling wanted research evidence for sensory memory and how much and how long it holds.

Sperling used whole report methods and partial report methods from subjects, using tonal delay. He had them recall letters on the screen in three rows where the result was an average of 4.5 letters reported out of 12, for a whole report no delay or tone. When high medium and low tones are used followed by a blank screen 3.3 letters reported out of four. When a partial report with a tone delay was reported an average of one letter reported out of four after one second delay.

Question 14

What is the brief sensory memory for visual stimuli called in Spurling’s experiments? Which part of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model can we compare this to?

Answer 14

Iconic memory. It corresponds to the sensory memory stage of Atkinson and Shiffrins modal model.

Question 15

What factors influence your ability to automatize a task? What makes it difficult to automatize a task?

Answer 15

Consistent mapping. We practice and rehearse things which makes it easier for us to automatize a task. Inconsistent mapping makes it difficult to automatize the task.

Question 16

Define short-term memory

Answer 16

Short-term memory is the system involved in starting small amounts of info for a brief period of time. Only very few reach the long-term memory.

Question 17

What type of experiment did Peterson and Peterson do and what did they find?

Answer 17

Subjects had to recall ABC 37. The subjects had to say the letters ABC and count backwards from the number 37 35 33 then recall what the letters in the beginning was.

Peterson and Peterson believe that because the group could only retain about 12% after 18 seconds, they believed the memory had simply just decayed after the passage of time.

Question 18

How did Keppel and Underwood redesign Peterson and Peterson’s experiment to come up with a different explanation for that memory decay?

Answer 18

Memory became worse after a few trials. Keppel and underwood suggested that the drop off the memory was not due to a decay of memory over time as Peterson and Peterson proposed, but to proactive interference.

Question 19

Explain proactive interference and retroactive interference when explaining Keppel and Underwood’s explanation.

Answer 19

Proactive interference = previously learned info interferes with new information.

Retroactive interference = new learning interferes with remembering old learning.

Question 20

What is the magic number according to George Miller? What did Vogel and associates find?

Answer 20

7, Plus or - 2, that it’s actually around 4.

Question 21

What is Vogel’s change detection experiment? What did his experiment conclude?

Answer 21

Did change occur during picture 1 and 2? Conclusion from the experiment with that people often miss changes in a thing.

Question 22

What type of interference is cramming for an exam?

Answer 22

Proactive interference

Question 23

About how many items can short-term memory hold?

Answer 23

Short-term memory can hold about 4 to 9 items.

Question 24

What was the difference between Vogel and Lucks change detection demonstration versus Cavanagh and Alvarez change detection experiment? Hint- STM and what it can hold…

Answer 24

Vogel and luck believe that short-term memory capacity can be measured in terms of items while Alvarez believe that it depends on the amount of detailed information.

Question 25

What is Working Memory involved in that STM is not involved in?

What kind of capacity does WM have?

How would solving a math problem correspond to using WM?

Answer 25

Because Short-term memory is involved in transferring information to long-term memory.

Working memory is also manipulation of info. Has a limited capacity for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning.

For example understanding and holding a conversation; also solving math which has you hold information while processing information at the same time.

Question 26

How does the working model go against Atkinson and Shiffrins modal model? What did Baddley’s subjects do that makes the modal model untrue?

Answer 26

Atkinson and Shiffrin believed you could only hold one task which occupies short-term memory. However Baddeleys working memory shows that subjects can read a paragraph and remember numbers at the same time.

Question 27

Explain Baddeleys working model memory.

Phonological loop (and it’s 2 parts).

Visual Spatial Sketchpad

Central Executive and it’s functions.

What’s an example using driving and getting directions?

Answer 27

The phonological loop holds verbal and audio information. Phonological loop has two components. The first is phonological store which has the limited capacity and hold information for just a few seconds. Second is articulatory rehearsal which keep items in the store from decaying.

The visual spatial sketchpad holds visual and spatial information. For example solving a puzzle or finding a way around campus.

The central executive in the center and pulls information from long-term memory. It manipulates information from the two subsystems, and integrates them to be used how they’re supposed to be used. It has higher order reasoning aspects, integration of information, attention and directing attention, planning, decision-making, and inhibition which inhibits irrelevant information presented but you don’t want to attenuate to, and retrieval which could access the long-term memory.

Example) I’m driving - my phonological loop is taking verbal directions from my friend who sitting in the passenger seat. Visual spatial sketchpad helps me visualize the map in my brain. The central executive coordinates these two bits of information. It also helps me pay attention as well as ignore the radio which is a distraction.

Question 28

What was the main thing Keppel and underwood was suggesting?

Answer 28

That proactive interference is what was messing people up.

Question 29

Why would a chess expert be better at remembering positions?

Answer 29

They are better at Chunking because they’re experts at chess due to their long term semantic memory to increase their capacity.

Question 30

What are some examples of the types of effect that show working memory is more than just short-term memory using the working memory model? Hint- 3 specific things that uses WM.

Answer 30

Word Length Effect- We see this effect because longer words are getting in the way of our rehearsal capacity. It takes us longer to hold long words. Not about number of items of words, but amount of information.

Articulatory suppression – distraction that takes away processing resources that takes away from the same place that you were doing the same task i.e. it’s competing for the exact same cognitive resources. Speaking “the the the” prevents you from rehearsing items.

Phonological similarity – more difficulty holding items that have the same phonological characteristics for example thespian theater and so on. F and S/X even though F looks more like E. The mistakes that are made are based on the letter sounds.

Question 31

Concerning visual sketchpad, define mental rotation, visual recall, and dual task.

Answer 31

Evidence suggests that we create a mental image and rotate mentally.

Visual recall – it’s not easy to convert into nonvisual information. Like looking at pattern in cells and trying to remember how to fill on the pattern on a blank cell.

Dual Task- Divided attention and consistent mapping.

Question 32

True or false. The central executive also stores information.

Answer 32

False, the central executive is not stored information the coordinates how information is used by the phonological loop and visual spatial sketchpad.

Question 32

In Vogel’s experiment, he recorded ERP’s from high capacity groups and low capacity groups. What does it mean when the low capacity group had a much larger increase in response to the memory display when there were blue bars surrounding the red bars placed there for distraction?

How is this similar to attention?

Answer 32

It shows that the Low – capacity group has a central executive function does not work very well. The addition of the distractor blue bars caused a large increase in response in the low capacity group means that the subjects were not able to ignore the irrelevant blue stimuli, so the blue bars were taking up space in their working memory.

Similar to flanker compatibility test. Lower the load the more distraction process.

Question 33

What does ERP’s (event related potential) measure? And where does it record?

Answer 33

It measures how many items somebody is holding in there working memory.

The contra lateral hemisphere of the attendant of visual hemifield.

Question 35

Explain contralateral hemisphere of the attendance of the visual hemifield.

Answer 35

Everything in the left hemifield gets processed in the right hemisphere. This is contralateral vs. ipsilateral (same side).

Question 36

Define Chunking. Is it related to STM or LTM?

What can be increased by chunking?

Answer 36

Chunking is when meaningful units are grouped together. It is related to long-term memory which is involved in knowing the meanings of the words.

Your working memory can be increased.

Question 37

Why did Baddeley add the episodic buffer to his working memory model? And what is the episodic buffer there for.? What does long-term memory have to do with this?

Answer 37

The episodic buffer is a way for WM to increase storage capacity and communicating with long-term memory.

Question 38

What is embedded processes model?

Answer 38

According to the embedded processes model, not only does memory and attention overlap, but working memory is parts of long-term memory which our attention is focused on.

Question 39

According to class discussion what does the prefrontal cortex do for our working memory? Hint-long-term memory.

What do monkeys have to do damage to prefrontal cortex?

Answer 39

The prefrontal cortex organizes what I am consciously aware of and directs it to the pathway where the information is processed. This is also where the long-term memory is stored.

Ablation studies using delayed response task studies w monkeys support this. Their performance drops to about half.

Question 40

What is the neural network model and what does it have to do with spreading activation? Define both.

Answer 40

Neural network model represents how the brain works through nodes that are connected to each other. Patterns of activation in nodes that are interconnected shows which stimulus is presented. it is similar to sparse coding. Activations spreads to related content for example, Doctor. nurse dog cat.

Spreading activation is when your attention is focused on one specific representation, and you’re consciously aware but everything else nearby associated to it is activated.

Question 41

What did Funahashi find about monkeys when she conducted her experiment in recording neurons in monkeys prefrontal cortex while the Monkeys carried out a delayed response test?

Answer 41

She found that neurons continued responding during the delay even when the stimulus was not on the screen anymore. These active cells remain until you make a response.

Question 42

What does neural mind reading referred to?

Answer 42

Neural mind reading can be done with an FMRI to determine what a person is perceiving or thinking., Kamatani and Tong used mind reading procedures to predict the orientation a person was looking at while Harrison and Tong used mind reading procedures to determine the orientation that subjects were holding in their mind during the 11 second delay. They were able to predict test orientation with 83% accuracy because of the active cells in each voxel.

Question 43

What does Neural mind reading tell us about the areas of the brain which are involved during working memory processes?

Answer 43

It tells us that the idea that a number of areas of the brain are involved in working memory is an example of distributed representation.

Question 44

T or F? Dividing attention positively affects working memory.

Answer 44

False. Negatively. According to ashcraft and Kirk.

Question 45

Divided attention uses up what? Example of Beilock and ramirez test anxiety.

Answer 45

Divided attention uses up WM.

They believed that anxieties have been alleviated after writing about their anxieties.

Attention dividing tasks could be anxiety over the test.

Question 46

Define proactive interference. Which researchers support this and whose ideas does this go against?

Answer 46

Proactive interference occurs when information learned previously interferes w learning new info.

Keppel and underwood believed this was the case because Peterson and pwterson just thought memory decayed…

Question 47

Working memory is distributed across the cortex

Answer 47

Yes

Question 48

Coding refers to the way information is:
Processed
Presented
Represented
Activated

Answer 48

Represented

Question 48

What type of experimental procedure is used to study how attention affects the processing of competing stimuli?

Answer 48

Dichotic listening

Question 49

The ERP recordings taken from cell phone and driving led strayer and dress to conclude what?

Answer 49

Drivers were experiencing inattentional blindness.

Question 50

In schenider and Shiffrins experiment, divided attention was easier in:

Answer 50

Consistent mapping. Because they automatized.

Question 51

According to the embedded processes model, short term memory is what to long term memory?

Answer 51

It is the active part of LTM that we focus out attention.

Question 52

According to Dr. Gerken’s practice quiz, STM’s code is:

Answer 52

visual, auditory, AND semantic.

Question 53

If too much demand is placed on the phonological loop, where does it borrow resources from?

Answer 53

Central Executive

Question 54

How does the articulatory supression task affect performance on a spatial processing task?

1. It decreases performance by adding phonological markers
2. Decrease by using limited resources
3. It doesn’t affect performance

Answer 54

It doesn’t affect performance because they don’t use the same cognitive resources.